Hublot Teams Up with Manchester United for a Unique Watch Promotion

Over the past few years, several watch companies have begun investing large sums of dollars on event partnerships, athlete endorsements, team partnerships, and more. As sports organizations look to leverage partnerships in this category in new ways, many should consider benchmarking a promotional tactic that Hublot and Manchester United partnered on in 2010.

Luxury watchmaker Hublot teamed up with Manchester United to host a Million Dollar Challenge event in New York City that featured several players as well as manager Sir Alex Ferguson shooting soccer balls at a giant target (replicating a Hublot watch) for the chance to raise funds for UNICEF. As part of the promotion, Manchester United players were challenged with striking a giant replica watch with a shot from 51 feet away to donate $1 million to UNICEF, a philanthropic entity that ManU has supported for 10+ years.

While no player successfully accomplished the feat, Hublot still donated a significant amount of money to UNICEF and generated buzz worldwide with the event. The PR stunt demonstrates how organizations can create engaging activation/PR stunt displays for watch companies that will attract consumer interest and attention. Consider ways that your team can benchmark this tactic to bring official watch partnerships to life!

Check out Hublot's activation tactic below:

Betfair Finds Creative Ways to Win Over Manchester United Supporters

Betfair, the world's largest betting exchange, has leveraged its designation as an official partner of Manchester United with flashes of brilliance over the past few weeks.

With the Manchester Derby set to take place in just a few days, Betfar found a creative way to capitalize on the only thing that unites Manchester United and Manchester City fans - their hatred for Carlos Tevez. Tevez, an Argentine striker who left Manchester United to join Manchester City in 2009, has become the most hated man in Manchester after refusing to come off the bench and play and will soon be on his way out of town.

Betfair celebrated Manchester's united hatred for Carlos Tevez by creating a "Trash Your Tevez Shirt" initiative that features a trash truck, branded ManU red on one side and Man City blue ont he other, driving through Manchester rewarding any fans who trash their Tevez jersey with a brand new one. Betfair's PR stunt has attracted a notable amount of worldwide attention and will likely be something that soccer fans in Manchester will remember for a lifetime.

Check it out below:

In late September, Betfair teamed up with several of Manchester United's star players to create a "Stars and Strikes" campaign that allowed fans to bet (for fun) on which player they thought would win in a game of football bowling. As part of the challenge, Betfair gave Ashley Young, Dimitar Berbatov, Patrice Evra, and a few others 40 seconds to try to knock down ten pins using lightweight footballs.

Check out the campaign below, which has attracted 345,000+ views:

Here's a behind-the-scenes look of how the "Stars and Strikes" campaign was made:

Betfair Gives Manchester United Fans Media Exposure

Are you looking to create new, memorable experiences for fans? Are you looking to implement a new promotion that has yet to be executed in the United States?

Betfair, an official sponsor of Manchester United, recently announced a tremendous promotional offer that encourages the club's fans across the world to show their support. Betfair is offering a "Get Behind United" promotion that will give Manchester United supporters the opportunity to show their avid support to millions across the world by having their photos featured on interview board backdrops and perimeter field board signage at Old Trafford.

Betfair, the world's first betting exchange, simply requires fans to submit a photo of themselves expressing their support along with their name and contact details on the Get Behind United promotional webpage.

The promotion offers one (1) as well as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many others:

• Grand Prize: One (1) lucky winner will have their face featured on interview backdrops, win two (2) free tickets, and participate in an on-field skills challenge for the chance to win a signed Manchester United jersey
• Secondary Prizes: A select number of fans will have their faces featured on the perimeter field boards at Old Trafford. The signage will be picked up on live game broadcasts being shown on ESPN in the United Kingdom and around the rest of the world

 Betfair is running the promotion for a select number of upcoming Manchester United home games at Old Trafford (Everton - 11/21/09, Aston Villa 12/12/09).

What's in it for Betfair? The promotion serves as a great way for them to drive awareness, reward existing fan customers, and leverage its partnership with Manchester United. All persons who submit their photos as part of the promotion are subject to have their photo used on Betfairfootball.com and agree to let Betfair (or its agents) use their data to administer the promotion and send them marketing communications materials.  

Source: SportsMarketing.fr